


Tell me no Lies

by ultraviolet_violet



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Cheating, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Kind of enemies to lovers, Minor Character Death, Past Relationship(s), Pediatric Nurse! Betty, Pediatric Nurse! Jughead, but not really, hidden pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-13
Updated: 2020-11-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:09:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27535033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ultraviolet_violet/pseuds/ultraviolet_violet
Summary: Friendship and marriage. Two constants in Betty's life that get removed, destroyed. She watches it all unfold before her eyes and can't figure out how to stop it. Not when she had her own things to solve, to figure out, to understand. She couldn't take care of everyone, not yet.So she steps away. She presses for one thing she knows will salvage herself while also giving her what she wants--a divorce. Yes, it'll hurt people. But in the end, they'll be free. Free from each other, free from the pain they caused. Free. And she'll be free from the secret she was harvesting, right?
Relationships: Betty Cooper & Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Comments: 4
Kudos: 50





	Tell me no Lies

**Author's Note:**

> Just a psa before we get into the fic. I tried to make things regarding what they do as realistic as possible, but my writing abilities are still very slim. I googled as much as I could and educated myself on lots of topics so this fic would be as accurate as possible. I’m sorry if some things are wrong or don’t make sense, but that’s a big reason that the nursing is slim.

Betty breathed deeply when she stepped into the hospital, biting her lip. It was huge, much bigger than the one she had worked in before. There were more people, more patients, more space. Everything was more. 

She smoothed her hand over her shirt, walking up to the nurses desk. “Hello, how can I help you?” the woman asked and Betty inhaled deeply, pressing her lips into a thin line. 

“Um,” she started, scoffing. “What floor is pediatrics?” 

“4th floor,” the woman answered with a small smile. “If you take the elevator, you’re going to take a right and walk through the pediatric clinic. There will be two double doors and if you walk through there, that’s the pediatric floor of the hospital. But if you only need the clinic, this elevator drops you right off in it.” 

“Okay, thank you,” Betty said with a smile, fixing her top as she approached the elevators. 

She pressed the button with the arrow that pointed up. She watched the light turn a bright green. The color didn’t suit the hospital. 

She folded her hands in front of her when she stepped back and began to chew her lip as she watched the floor in front of her. 

She heard footsteps approach her and the smell of tobacco wafted over to her. She could feel the heat from the body as they stepped beside her to press the up button. Her stomach did a flip when she took a questioning glance up. 

Her lips parted and she wanted to say something. Say his name. Say hello. Say how she felt all those months ago and honestly, how she still felt now. But she couldn’t. Her voice was failing her. 

He cleared his throat as he tucked his phone in his pocket, glancing at her quickly but looking away. He did a double take and his face fell. He clenched his jaw and nodded, stepping away. 

“I’m going to take the stairs,” he muttered and she tried to speak again, though nothing came out. He laughed coldly, shaking his head as he walked away. 

She sighed heavily, the elevator doors opening. 

~

Betty adjusted her stethoscope around her neck, adjusting her tag for what must have been the hundredth time. She had been standing around too long but had no idea what to do. 

A nurse walked around the desk and Betty inhaled sharply, swallowing when she walked away. She stopped in her tracks, turning. “You have been standing there for at least 10 minutes,” she stated and Betty winced silently. “New?” 

“Yeah,” Betty whispered and the woman nodded. 

She set the chart she had down, holding out her hand. “Toni,” she started and Betty shook her hand with a smile. “You are…?”

“Oh,” Betty breathed, shaking her head. “Bet-Betty. Sorry, I’m… sorry.” 

“Don’t apologize,” Toni chuckled, picking the chart up again. “Come with me. I’ll introduce you to Lizzie Mullins. See, you gotta understand this before I tell you about her. She’s very strong and she gets mad when people feel bad for her. A part of her stomach was removed, though it ended up doing more harm than good. She was diagnosed with stomach cancer a year ago and… we’re controlling it the best we can. She’s 8, she’s young, but she’s not scared. She’s a smart girl, she knows what’s going on inside of her.” 

Betty nodded, letting out a deep breath. “Okay,” she breathed, clearing her throat. “I’m sorry. I worked at a really, really small hospital before this one. I just moved here, I didn’t realize that it would be this big, or… I’m sorry.” 

“You’re okay,” Toni assured, squeezing her upper arm. “I’m sure your pediatric floor was much different.” 

“We didn’t even have a floor for it,” she revealed and Toni’s eyes widened. “They were just put on one of the three floors. I just… I specialized in pediatrics and they pushed me to be a physician but I didn’t want to. So I stayed a nurse and… I worked on children whenever they came in. Other than that, it was just adults. And if kids came in like her, we had to send them somewhere more equipped to deal with their condition.”

“Mm,” Toni hummed, nodding. “Well, you seem like you mean well and you know things that happen because you’re obviously certified. It’s not always easy up here, but we smile for the kids.” 

“Yeah, of course.” Betty sighed, shaking her head. “Sorry for rambling.” 

“Stop apologizing,” she laughed and Betty bit her lip. “Let’s go see her, get her vitals.” 

Betty nodded, smoothing her shirt as she followed Toni inside. Betty stayed back as Toni gave the young girl a smile, stepping over to her bedside. 

“How are you feeling today?” Toni asked and Lizzie sighed, shrugging. “Good? Bad? Okay?” 

“I want my mom,” Lizzie muttered and Toni nodded. 

“Can I look at your belly?” she asked and Lizzie nodded. Toni moved back her blankets and lifted her gown, frowning. “How long has your belly looked like this?” 

“I feel fine, I promise,” she mumbled and Toni sighed.

“Do you feel sick?” 

“I’m fine! I don’t need it,” she whispered weakly. “Please, I don’t like it.” 

“You need it, Lizzie,” she stated as she adjusted the stethoscope in her ears. “Deep breath,” she instructed.

“I’m okay,” Lizzie started, twisting the stuffed bear in her hands. “I just want my mommy.” 

Toni took off the stethoscope, looking Lizzie in the eye. “You’re okay for now,” she promised and Lizzie sighed. “But you’re going to need it drained. As soon as you feel sick or your chest starts to hurt or you can’t breathe, we gotta do it.” 

Lizzie frowned and Toni adjusted her braid. 

“You see her?” she whispered, pointing to Betty who smiled. Lizzie nodded. “She’s new here, so that means you could totally get two bowls of ice cream from her when you’re better.” 

Lizzie smiled and Toni giggled, squeezing her shoulder. 

“I’m going to go call your mom,” she muttered, giving her a smile as she walked away. “You wanna do the next one?” 

“What?” Betty asked, panicked. 

“He’s in the last stretch of his recovery for the removal of his appendix. He’s 12, good kid, obsessed with video games. Jughead’s a big one with those kids and usually he has them, but… I haven’t seen him today,” Toni breathed and Betty furrowed her brows, nodding while also trying to shake her head. “I’ll introduce you to him if we ever see him.” 

“Sounds great,” Betty forced, taking the kids chart Toni handed her. 

~

Betty knocked on the side of Lizzie’s door, giving her a smile. “Hi,” she started, stepping over to her bed. “We haven’t met yet-” 

“You were here with Toni,” she muttered and Betty nodded. 

“I was,” she responded with a smile, “and right now, Toni is with someone else. Is it okay if I… check your belly and everything?” 

Lizzie nodded and Betty nodded as well. She moved her blankets back and lifted her gown, keeping her face sane as she inspected her abdomen. It had grown much more distended from the morning to the night. 

Betty adjusted everything and Lizzie let out a dry cough, wheezing. Betty furrowed her brows, glancing at her vitals then to her. “Are you okay?” she asked and Lizzie nodded fervently. “Are you sure? You don’t… seem-” 

She cried out and Betty inhaled sharply, adjusting her stethoscope in her ears. She pressed it to her back, trying to hear her lungs. “Can you take a deep breath?” she asked nervously. 

“No!” Lizzie cried, gasping. “I want my mom!” 

“I know,” Betty murmured, keeping her upright. “Stay sitting up, okay?” she stated and Lizzie cried out again. Betty pressed the nurse-call button and grabbed the oxygen, fixating the nose cannula on her. Nurses came hurrying in and Betty huffed. “I need an ultrasound!” she shouted and one of the nurses passed it to her. “Thank you,” she whispered, running it over Lizzie’s chest. 

She watched the screen, sighing. “It’s a pleural effusion,” she muttered, setting the ultrasound aside. “She needs fluid drained from her chest.” 

“No!” Lizzie sobbed, grabbing Betty’s arm. “No, please!” 

“You _need_ it,” Betty pressed and Lizzie whimpered. “It’ll make you feel better. And you won’t even feel it. They’ll make you sleepy, but you go to sleep and it will only be a little pinch. I’ll do it-”

“No! No, you _can’t_ ,” she cried, her hand tightening around Betty’s arm. “No, you can’t!” she sobbed and Betty sighed. 

“Do any of you know how to…?” she questioned, but they all shook their head. “I need someone who knows how, she’s not going to let me do this.” 

They all started to hurry around, knocking into each other as they tried to get out into the hall. 

“I want my mommy,” she cried and Betty nodded, squeezing her hand. “Where’s my mommy?”

“I don’t know,” Betty whispered softly. “But you can squeeze my hand as hard as you need to. I’ll be right here, I’m not going anywhere.” 

“What’s going on?” the voice asked and Betty glanced up at Jughead. He froze for a moment, breathing deeply when he glanced over the charts. “Where the hell is her doctor?” 

“He’s not in tonight,” a nurse answered and he shook his head, scoffing. 

He snapped on gloves, giving her a smile. “I want my mom,” she cried and he nodded. 

“I know you do, I would too. But I’m going to help you,” he promised, taking the syringe someone handed him. 

“No!” she shouted, moving towards Betty. “No! No, you can’t let him! No!” 

“A pinch,” Betty blurted and Lizzie sobbed. “It’ll be a tiny little pinch and it’ll all be over and then he’ll help you feel way better.” Betty glanced at him and he adjusted the syringe over her skin. “And then when you’re all done, your mommy will be here and then… and then everything will be okay.” 

Lizzie inhaled deeply, sighing. 

“See?” Betty whispered, giving him a small smile. “He’s all done, you’re better. I’m going to go see where your mommy is, okay?” 

Lizzie nodded and Betty offered her a smile, leaving the room. 

“She needs her stomach drained first thing tomorrow morning. Fill in Toni, make sure she tells the night nurse to watch her,” Jughead explained to a nurse filling out Lizzie’s chart. 

Betty sighed, stepping further into the hall as she called out, “Jughead.” 

He ignored her, walking and turning down the hall. She breathed deeply, smoothing her shirt as she followed him. 

“You can’t ignore me forever,” she stated and he stopped dead in his tracks, wiping a hand over his face. “We work together now-”

“I thought we worked pretty fine together, yeah?” he interrupted, and she sighed. “You don’t have to be best fucking friends with everyone you work with.”

“Jughead,” she muttered weakly, and he walked off. She inhaled deeply, covering her mouth with her hand. She swallowed thickly and cleared her throat, walking away. 

~

A few weeks had gone by and Betty had stuck to Toni’s side. She took the cases she needed help with, and helped her on cases she needed an extra set of eyes or hands on. She had met a few doctors and a few surgeons, and they were all okay. Not necessarily nice, not necessarily mean. Just okay. 

Jughead on the other hand, was proving to be very difficult. 

She tried to talk to him, but she couldn’t get a word out of him. Even when they had a baby in the NICU he wouldn’t speak to her. There’s no noise besides beeping machines and it drove Betty nuts. She wanted to reach over the incubator and choke him, but she focused on the baby. 

The baby had gotten better (thankfully) and was taken home a few days later. 

But, since Jughead was difficult, he made sure other nurses were the same way. And whenever she’d see him hanging around, she’d catch his snicker or smirk. _Asshole_ , she’d think. 

She tried to avoid Nathan who worked on the other side of the floor. He liked to not update her on her patients which was compromising to them. He was the worst out of the bunch. 

Elliott (or Eli as some people call him) states that he lost the chart. Though, he does so poorly and the gags up in 2 minutes because he gets tired of holding it. 

Then there’s Ben. He’s not horrible, he just flirts. And it’s not that he distracts her, he pulls her attention away from what she should be doing. 

She doesn’t think he was told to flirt with her because sometimes Jughead would walk by the nurses station when it’s his round and he’ll look more pissed with him than he is with her. Or maybe it’s a combination of how much he dislikes both of them. 

“Elizabeth!” Ben shouted and she forced a chuckle. 

“I’ve said to call me Betty _nicely_ ,” she muttered and he rolled his eyes. “I’ll start calling you Benjamin if you don’t stop.”

“Ooh,” he laughed, narrowing his eyes. “She has weak threats up her sleeve.” She smiled, grabbing a chart and standing. “Woah, where are you going?” he asked, holding his hand out to stop her. 

“I’m doing my last check on Maia before I leave,” she explained, trying to walk past him. 

He pushed his hand into her stomach, making her step back. “Let’s get drinks tonight,” he started and she sighed. “Me and you. I know a bar not that far from here-”

“Listen,” she cut in, moving his hand. She glanced away for a second, finding Jughead leaning against the far end of the desk, writing in a chart. 

She inhaled deeply, looking at Ben with a smile. “Actually, drinks sound great,” she stated and he smirked. “I’ll be done at 8.”

“Cool,” he laughed and she walked off with a frown. She didn’t want drinks with him. She didn’t want alcohol. She didn’t want him. She was fucked. 

~

Betty had convinced the bartender to give her shots of water and make her tequila highball a club soda with lime. 

She couldn’t drink, but he couldn’t know that. She didn’t like being drunk anyway, especially not around colleagues. She had self respect (and other hidden factors). He obviously did not. 

He was wasted beside her and his blood alcohol level had to be through the roof. Part of her was afraid of him embarrassing himself. 

He gripped the back of her neck and squeezed. Her body warmed but it wasn’t because of him. Jughead used to do that. Jughead used to do that and it always made her stomach do flips and her heart would race. It made her feel like a teenager again. 

“Me and you should get out of here,” he whispered with a smirk. 

“You and I,” she corrected and he snarled. She was trying to be that bitch. She didn’t want this. “And yeah, we should.” 

“Call us a cab-”

“Two separate cabs,” Betty interrupted, and the bartender nodded while calling the company. 

They arrived in minutes and Betty helped him into his cab, yelping when he pulled her into it with him. “I should get in my own car,” she said quickly and he waved her off, closing the door. “Ben, I’m serious.” 

“You’re fine,” he drew out and she let out a shaky breath. 

“Ben, I really don’t think so,” she laughed, trying to pry his hand off of her arm. “You’re drunk,” she stated, trying to stay calm. “We really don’t need to be doing anything right now.” 

“I’m not drunk,” he muttered, pulling her into him and kissing her neck. “I’m perfectly sober.” 

“No,” she grunted, shoving him. “You’re not. You are far from sober. Really, sex is the last thing you and I should be doing—ever.” 

He chuckled, starting to kiss at her neck again. “You say that now,” he whispered and she sighed. 

~

Betty cringed as he kissed at her neck and chin, the smell of bourbon wafting off of him like he had soaked in it. She tried to fight a gag at the smell, but sooner or later, she will throw up. 

“I need to go home,” she said, rolling out from under him. “I have things to do tomorrow.” 

“Come back,” he whined, pulling on her jeans. “I can make you feel good.” 

“You can make me vomit,” she japed, pinching his hand until he pulled it away. “Let’s stick to being… colleagues.” 

He groaned, rolling over on the bed. 

“Also,” she sighed, fixing her shirt. “Tell Jughead that if he has something to tell me, to tell me it himself. You four are comprising the care of my patients with the way you are acting. Grow up, you’re almost in your thirties.” 

She rolled her eyes as she left his apartment, shivering and swallowing thickly. “Disgusting,” she breathed, pulling out her phone. 

~

“Can I see your arm?” Betty asked and the kid handed it over to her hesitantly. “It won’t hurt for long, I promise. I’ve had my blood drawn before too and I know it doesn’t feel too great. But you’re used to this, right?” she asked as she prepped the needle. 

The young boy nodded, nervous.

“Yeah. And I bet you’re _super_ strong and you can definitely handle this,” she stated with a small smile and he nodded again. “Okay. On three, I’m going to put it into your arm and I’m going to take a little blood out. Now, you might feel a little pinch, okay?”

He nodded. 

“Okay,” she whispered. “One, two, three,” she breathed as she pushed the needle in his arm. His eyes were squeezed closed tight as blood filled the tube. She was done in less than a minute, taking off his tourniquet and grabbing a small square of gauze. “Can you hold this right here for me?” she asked, holding it over where she had taken his blood. 

He held the gauze to his arm and she gave him a smile, moving her stool back. She slowly shook the tube a few times to make sure everything was incorporated as she covered the needle and dropped it into the biohazard bin. 

Afterwards, she set the tube aside and picked up the piece of medical tape she had sitting next to her and moved back over to him. “You did a super good job,” she told him and he smiled a little. She moved his hand and fixated the tape over the gauze. “Hold that for a few more seconds, okay?”

He did as she said and she moved back over to the blood sample. She placed the identification sticker on it before placing it in the bag, removing her gloves and throwing them away. 

She sighed, standing. “Your mom is going to come back in and then we’re going to wait for your results. It might be a little while,” she added sadly and he nodded, grabbing the stuffed animal beside him. 

She picked up the bag and left his room, sighing. She stepped over to the nurses desk, checking over the boys chart. “Is there any blood that needs to go to pathology? I’m going up there right now,” she stated and they all shook their heads. 

When she turned, she almost got plowed over by Jughead hurrying by. “You going up to Path?” he asked and she nodded, brows furrowed. “Cool. Take these,” he said, shoving a load of blood samples into her arms. 

He walked away and she huffed, adjusting the samples in her arms. “No thank you?” she called after him and he ignored her, continuing down the hall. “God,” she breathed, shaking her head. 

~

Betty sat down next to Toni at the table and she sighed. “Jughead talked to me today,” she started and Toni raised her brows. “He only gave me blood samples, but he talked to me.” 

“You know, for you two not knowing each other beforehand, he hates you an awful lot,” Toni pointed out and Betty swallowed thickly, shrugging as she looked down at her food with flushed cheeks. “Like, it’s weird. Jug never acts like this—especially when it comes to new nurses. He’s usually the one who introduces them to me because he’s just that guy, you know?” Toni sighed, shrugging. “It’s just really odd-” 

“Jughead and I know each other,” Betty cut in and Toni furrowed her brows. “We-We knew each other, I should say. Well. Really… really well.” 

“Oh?” Toni questioned, intrigued. “Like, ‘we hooked up in a bar once’ well? ‘We hooked up at a party’ well? What well are we talking about?” 

“Pretty-Pretty well,” Betty muttered and Toni’s eyes narrowed. “You know, I’m not hungry. I think I have some patients to check up on.” 

“You can’t leave me hanging!” Toni exclaimed and Betty hurried away. “Oh, you two are horrible!” She stabbed the sandwich on her plate and Jughead sat down in Betty’s seat. “You knew her?” she asked and he nodded. 

“Gotta go get labs,” he uttered, standing back up. 

“No!” she shouted, groaning. 

~

Toni set the chart down and Betty flinched, looking over at her. “You’re coming over,” she stated and Betty furrowed her brows. “You’re coming over and you’re telling me everything about you and Jughead. You two both left me hanging. I need to know!” 

“No,” Betty whispered, signing off on a chart before handing it to a night nurse. “No, Toni. You’re my friend and you’re a new friend and I really don’t want you knowing about stuff that’s going on or that has happened outside of when I worked here yet. I’m not… I’m not ready.” 

“Betty,” she whined, following her. “Please? I’d rather hear it from you than him.” 

Betty sighed, clenching her jaw. “Toni, you’re a great person, but please. I am not ready for this. I still have stuff to take care of—it’s why I’m off all next week. I won’t be here, I’ll be back in New York. I don’t want how you see me to change yet either. But you can get Jughead’s side of the story,” she continued, pushing open the door to the front of the hospital. 

She sighed, shrugging. “That’s fine,” Betty continued. “You just have to realize, him and I are two different people and the way we viewed the situation was completely different. Things happened… big things. Things he doesn’t even know about yet because he was gone before I could even talk about them.” 

“Betty,” Toni mumbled and she gave her a sorry look. 

“Not yet, okay?” she questioned and Toni nodded slowly. “Thank you.” 

~

Betty adjusted her purse in her lap for what must had been the 30th time in that hour in an attempt to cover her stomach. She could barely fit into her pant suit and felt like she was going to explode just from wearing it. She couldn’t even get the button to close.

And not to mention, Archie was late. He was always late. She didn’t know why she expected so much from him. 

_Thank God_ , she thought when he finally walked in, his lawyer trailing behind him. His eyes were cold when he glanced at her and she breathed deeply, looking down at the floor. 

She stood when her lawyer did, Archie’s lawyer eyeing her. “Should we get this over with?” he asked and Archie’s jaw tightened. 

Betty breathed, “please,” softly, following everyone into the room. 

She was sitting across from Archie at the large table, twisting her fingers. She didn’t listen to the notary as he spoke, she was too busy trying to remember if she brought her rings or not. They weren’t special by no means. They weren’t an heirloom and they weren’t overly expensive. But she’d be chopped liver if she didn’t bring them. 

“Mrs. Andrews,” the notary barked and Betty looked at him with furrowed brows. 

“C-Cooper. I was… I was never Andrews,” she corrected, Archie sitting disgusted across from her. 

“Sorry,” he muttered, pushing the paper and pen towards her. “Sign here,” he stated and she nodded. 

Slowly, she picked up the pen, sighing. She scribbled her signature on the line quickly, pushing it away with a deep breath. Archie signed next, giving her a stern look. 

“I want the rings,” he stated and she bit her lip, looking in her purse. She dug around for a few minutes, whimpering. “Tell me you have those goddamn rings! Those are mine!” 

“I know,” she uttered, continuing to look. “I-I-I have them—I _have_ to have them. God,” she breathed, sighing when the two bands sparkled at her. She pulled them out, clenching her jaw as she dropped them into his hand. 

Archie pushed his chair back and stood, fixing his jacket. “We’re done,” he said with a pointed look. 

“We were done before we were even married,” she challenged. His nostrils flared and his jaw tightened. “You knew it. I knew it. We went through with it anyway.” 

“Don’t make me seem like the only bad guy here,” he started, leaning forward on the table. “We _both_ did some shit. You’re not going to pin this all on me. I didn’t even want a divorce, I wanted to work through our mess. You had no faith.” 

“No, Archie,” she muttered, her voice much more steady than his. He was angry. She was calm—or at least trying to be. “I didn’t because you made a decision that wrecked us to the point of no return.”

“You did it too!” he shouted and she breathed deeply. “How the hell is it any different?”

“You poured the kerosene,” she started, squeezing her purse tighter to herself. “And I dropped the match.” 

He scoffed, shaking his head. “You have some fucking line for everything,” he grumbled as he left, his lawyer to follow. 

Betty sighed, glancing at her lawyer. “Are we done?” she asked, her smile kind. 

“As soon as the judge signs, the divorce will be finalized,” she explained and Betty nodded. “You’re done here though, yes.” 

“Thank you,” Betty whispered, fixing her jacket. She stood and offered a smile, leaving with a deep breath. 

~

Toni stopped short, squinting. She huffed, walking over to Betty and stepping in front of her. 

“Oh,” Betty breathed, brushing hair out of her face. “Hi.” 

“I thought you were in New York,” she inquired and Betty shook her head. “Bad time?”

“No, no,” she answered quickly, shaking her head. “Great time. It didn’t take as long as I expected it to so I came back last night. I picked up a few cases. I could have stayed but I feel so useless when I’m not doing anything so…” She shrugged, signing a chart. “Anyway, how’s your morning been?” 

“Uh, not as great as yours?” she questioned and Betty laughed. “Seriously, you’re really happy. What? You get laid or something?” 

“Oh, no,” she breathed, picking up a chart. “Even better.” 

“Laid _multiple_ times?” Toni asked and Betty laughed. “Yes.” 

“Nope,” she answered, walking away. “Even better than that.” 

“You finished?” she joked and Betty’s laugh was bright and bubbly as she walked into a patient's room. Toni turned, jumping back slightly. “Damn.” 

“What is she so happy for?” he asked and Toni shrugged. “You gotta know, you’re her best friend.” 

“Maybe if you weren’t such an ass to her, you wouldn’t have to put up this still-in-love-ex-boyfriend act,” Toni muttered, gasping. “Oh my god! Are you one of her exes?” 

“Shut up, I’m not telling you anything,” he murmured and she gasped again. 

“You totally are!” 

~

“Betty!” Toni exclaimed as she stepped out of the hospital. Betty turned, raising a brow. “You’re coming over and you’re telling me everything. Please, God, I have to know what happened between you and Jughead. You two make it sound so interesting.”

Betty sighed, adjusting her bag. “Fine,” she breathed and Toni’s eyes widened. “But it’s between you and I.” 

“Yes!” Toni exclaimed and Betty giggled. 

~

Toni sat down next to Betty, handing her the glass of water she requested. “Start from the very beginning,” Toni pressed and Betty laughed, sighing. 

“Jug and I were best friends from college. We both went to University of Rochester, we lived on the same floor, all that. And then Archie comes in shortly after we graduate.”

Toni curled her hands around her wine glass, intrigued. 

“Jug and I were… we were getting drinks and Archie came over and started talking to me and… and before I knew what was going on, I was agreeing to a date the weekend after,” she sighed and Toni’s eyes narrowed. “We went out for a while—three years—before he proposed and we were married two months after. I wanted things done really, really fast and we did just that. The ceremony was just close friends and family. But, um…” Betty laughed, setting her glass down. 

She brushed hair away from her face, sitting criss-cross on the couch. “We were married for a year before I found out he was sleeping with some… some woman he worked with. Pretty… pretty cliché, even for him. And he was the poster child for a cliché—him and I both were.” She waited a beat, looking at her hands. “I found out _from_ the girl he was sleeping with. I found out that no one that he worked with knew about me, no one knew he was married. He had nothing of me in his office, I was basically just a second thought,” she muttered and Toni frowned. 

“Jughead was the first person I told,” she continued and Toni’s face contorted to a wince. “I was sobbing on his doorstep. I looked crazy but only Jughead… I had tequila, two bottles of it, and he knew that I wanted to get wasted no matter the consequences. So we did. We-We got… really wasted. And in the process… I kissed him. I kissed him ‘cause he was there and he cared and he was listening to me. Archie hadn’t done much of that since we had gotten engaged. So the kissing turned to sex and the sex turned to a raging headache and what people would call a mistake. But sometimes things are just _too good_ to be mistakes.”

Betty sighed, shaking her head. “He told me he loved me a few weeks later. We were sober and he said he wouldn’t care if I felt the same or not because we were best friends and best friends stick together through everything. But I couldn’t say anything back. I froze, I-I panicked and then Archie came into his and I’s apartment and I blurted out what Jughead and I had done. They fought and argued and screamed and yelled. Then they wanted me to choose. And I froze again and didn’t know what to do. I knew who I wanted, I knew who I loved, but I couldn’t talk. So Jughead left. And I don’t mean he only left the apartment. No, he _left_.”

“Jughead left before I could tell him that I chose him. Before I could tell him that I had Archie file for divorce. And I only had Archie do it because I wanted to leave New York. I couldn’t be in New York anymore, it was-it was killing me,” she added softly, sipping from her glass. “I really need to talk to Jug, I have things I need to tell him. But I don’t know how to get him to listen to me. I used to know, but now he hates me so much, he’ll barely even look at me.”

“I’ve noticed that you have to back him into a corner,” Toni revealed, and Betty furrowed her brows. “You have to trap him to talk to him when he’s upset. It sounds crazy, I know, but I’m sure you know that he's a stubborn asshole.” 

“He wasn’t always a stubborn asshole,” Betty laughed, biting her lip. “I caused him to be like that, it’s-it’s my fault.”

“You can’t blame yourself-”

“I’m not,” Betty cut in. “I’m not blaming myself. You can’t blame yourself for something you cause. I gotta talk to him. I gotta… I gotta sit down with him. I have to make him Jug again because that Jug can take a woman’s heart and run it through the wringer and still have her at his every whim. The Jug that I see now is possessive and alone and anxious. You can tell by the way he works. His hands shake when he changes an IV because he doesn’t want to fuck it up. He curses when he _does_ screw up an IV and when one of his kids cries because of something he did, he wipes his face and walks away. He shoves himself into paperwork so he doesn’t have to deal with _screwing up again_ ,” she emphasized, sighing. 

“This isn’t Jughead. This is a worn out, overplayed version of Jughead. And he’s tired, you can see it in his face. He’s tired and I just… I want to be his friend again because I want to know _why_ he’s so exhausted. _Why_ he’s possessive. _Why_ he’s anxious and scared and alone. I wanna know, but he’s not going to tell me.” 

~

“Dammit,” Betty breathed, clenching her jaw as she turned towards her closet. She dug through the clothes, pulling on a shirt and huffing. 

“I’m screwed.” she muttered after a minute, sitting down and laying against her bed. She groaned, placing a hand on her stomach.

~

“Jesus Christ,” Jughead breathed, leaving the kids room with a clenched jaw and upset eyes. Betty was right. 

Toni had never noticed this. The shaking hands, the curses, the paperwork, the isolation. She didn’t realize it because he had been isolating himself. The biggest problem out of the bunch. 

He grabbed his jacket off the back of the chair, pulling it on as he muttered something to Ben who nodded. Toni knitted her brows together as a silent question, setting her chart down and tucking her pen in her scrub top. 

She grabbed her jacket off the back of her own chair, sneaking around Ben and to the elevators. She adjusted her coat as she rode down, walking out into the courtyard. 

It wasn’t hard to find Jughead. You just had to follow the footprints and cigarette smoke. 

“You’re stupid,” she started and he gave her an odd look. “You tell her you love her, then you leave her? Really?” 

He rolled his eyes, taking a drag from his cigarette. 

“You didn’t even wait for answer-”

“She made up her fucking mind! It’s him, it’s always him!” he shouted, his voice breaking, and she breathed deeply. “No matter what bullshit he puts her through, it’s always him.” 

She curled her hands into fists in her pockets, whispering, “You really need to hear her out, listen to what she has to say.”

“Why the hell should I listen to her?” he exclaimed dramatically. “I don’t want to hear it-”

“Jughead!”

He clenched his jaw, his nostrils flaring. 

“You’re not this perfect god,” she started and he took a slow drag from his cigarette. “You couldn’t even have the balls to stick around and hear who she chose. You’re acting like a scared little bitch. You’re an ass to her to act all cool when in reality, you’re shitting your goddamn pants because you know she’s doing better than you are. Buck up and stop acting like a dick.” 

She walked off and he swallowed thickly, dropping his cigarette in the snow. 

~

Jughead set the knife he was using down when there was a knock on his door, sighing. He made the small cross to the door, unlocking it and pulling it open. 

“Toni said I needed to back you into a corner in order to get you to listen,” Betty started, shoving past him and into the apartment. “So I asked for your apartment and this is exactly what I’m doing.” 

“Get out of my apartment,” he stated firmly and she took off her coat, draping it over the back of a chair. “Betty, I’m serious! Get out!” 

“You did this,” she muttered, ignoring his words. “After you and I slept together, we kinda… we stopped talking as regularly as we used to and after a few weeks, you showed up at Archie and I’s apartment.”

“I can call the police,” he challenged. 

She continued, “You did what I just did now. You knocked, let yourself in. When I turned around, I could barely say, ‘Hey’ before you said, ‘I love you.’ You said, ‘I love you. And I know you love Archie, and you’ll probably always love Archie, but I love you and I’m asking for a chance—one chance.’” 

He blinked at her in anger that was blurring with amazement. She restated his words exactly. 

“I remember it so well because… because I’ve thought about it everyday since you said it,” she confessed and he felt his heart begin to race. “Archie showed up before I could talk and my attention went to him. And when I blurted, ‘Jug and I slept together’, you looked like you wanted to kill me,” she whispered, tears brimming her eyes. “And I'm convinced that ever since that moment, you have hated me. You hate me and it’s shown since that happened.” 

He scoffed and opened his mouth to talk. 

“I’m sorry,” she said over him and he clenched his jaw. “He would have found out anyway.”

“The hell he would have!” he shouted. “It’s not that hard-”

“I’m pregnant, Jughead!” she cried over him and he froze. “I’m… pregnant,” she breathed, sobbing as she fell down onto his couch. 

He stood dumbfounded in the doorway. His brows were furrowed and he felt lost. How?

He stepped towards her, questioning, “What?” 

She nodded, sniffling and wiping her face. “I wanted to keep it no matter what you said because… I want kids. And I tried to get a hold of you but _you wouldn’t answer_ ,” she gritted and his heart sunk. 

He remembered when he had gotten multiple calls and texts from her. He ignored them out of whatever jealous sheath had taken over him. 

“It’s here. I’m pregnant. I’m… I’m having a baby and… and it doesn’t have a dad and I don’t know the sex and I’m terrified,” she cried and he swallowed thickly. “I work with little kids every damn day and I work in the NICU sometimes and…” She sighed, wiping her hands over her face. “I’ve seen it and I’ve heard the heartbeat… it’s ours,” she breathed, hiding her face with her hands as she cried softly.

“Archie would have found out,” she started again in a whisper after some time. “He would have known that this baby wasn’t his the second it came out. I mean, look at you, Jughead. It will probably have your hair, that’s a goddamn given. He would have found out whether it was from this baby, or me, or you, or someone who found out and told him.”

“He wouldn’t-”

“Jughead!” she exclaimed, her eyes red. “We both know that you can’t hide cheating. They always find out in the end. _He would have found out_ , simple as that! Accept the fact!” 

He wiped a hand over his face, crossing his arms over his chest as he turned away from her. 

“You’re the only one who knows,” she revealed softly, fighting her tears. “You’re the only one, Jughead.” Her voice broke and he covered his mouth with his hand, tears filling his eyes. “Say something,” she begged, her voice shaking. 

“Get out.”

“Jughead,” she cried. 

“Get out!” he roared, and she whimpered as she walked out. 

She held herself together until she got to her car. She sat down in the driver's seat and sobbed, dropping her head into her hands as she cried. 

~

A few days passed and Betty and Jughead avoided each other at all costs. Jughead could barely look at Betty without feeling sick and Betty could barely look at Jughead without wanting to tear his head off. 

Jughead felt like he was going to vomit constantly. He hated himself. He hated the world. He hated everything besides the kids he was trying to help and Betty. 

Betty’s eyes met his and he froze, straightening at the desk. She sighed, putting on a smile as she stepped into the patient's room. He deflated. 

~

“Good morning,” Betty said brightly, giving the young boy a smile. “Today you’re-”

“Getting my gallbladder taken away!” he said excitedly and she chuckled. “It’s gonna be super, super cool!” His eyes were huge and she giggled, adjusting his IV. “And I get to go home right after, right dad?” 

He looked around Betty and both of his fathers nodded with panicked smiles, their hands clutching to each other. 

“Are you gonna be in there when it happens?” he asked, grinning. 

Betty scrunched up her nose, shaking her head. “I don’t go into surgeries,” she explained and he sighed. “I work on this floor only. I help kids before their surgeries and after their surgeries. But I also help sick kids and hurt kids. I don’t go into surgeries, though.” 

“Will you at least get to see it?” he questioned and she shook her head. “Well, that’s crappy.” 

“Christopher!” his dads exclaimed in unison and he looked around her again. 

“Sorry! I didn’t mean it,” he muttered, looking at his hands. 

Betty gave him a smile, picking up the tablet she set aside and looked back at his parents. “The anesthesiologist and surgical team will be around in about an hour or two to let you know what’s happening. Then at 3, he’ll go in for his surgery.”

They nodded, testing a smile. 

“Okay,” Betty breathed, sighing. “If you need anything, just press the button,” she laughed, nodding as she backed out of the room. 

“Jesus Christ,” Jughead muttered, continuously clicking on the iPad screen. “Why the hell would they give us these things if they don’t even work?” 

Betty stepped over to him, plucking the tablet from his hands. She clicked a few buttons, holding it back out to him. 

“Thanks,” he whispered and she clenched her jaw, grabbing her own iPad and walking off. “Okay, yeah. Maybe I should stop doing that.” 

“Okay,” Toni sighed, walking up behind him. “So now she’s not talking to you?” 

He glanced at her, sighing as he shrugged. “Yeah,” he whispered, nodding. “Something like that.” 

“So you talked?” she questioned and he shrugged. “Yes? No?” 

“Sh-She talked,” he stuttered, breathing deeply. “She talked, I… was an ass as usual. And now when I try to talk to her, she does everything I did to her when I was ignoring her. She’s giving me the silent treatment and I’m not allowed to give a shit because this is exactly what I did to her. And karma is a fucking bitch, do you know that?” 

“Oh, yes,” Toni joked. “Everyone knows that. Everyone but you, obviously.” 

“Are you going to continue to be like this until I die?” 

“Oh, no,” she said in a sing-song. “Just until you and her are on good terms.” 

“So you’re on her side?” he asked and she mocked zipping her lips, dropping the imaginary key. “Toni.” 

She shrugged, taking her iPad as she left.

~

Betty sighed, waving to Christopher as they wheeled him down the hall. She let out a deep breath, looking down at the iPad and checking out for lunch. She set it aside to change, taking her phone out of her jacket pocket and walking off down the hall. 

“Betty,” Jughead breathed and she continued on, biting her lip. “Betty, come on. Can we… Betty!” 

Toni approached her side, linking her arm through hers. “So, we’re ignoring him now?” she asked. 

Betty laughed, stating, “I’m ignoring him. I had no clue you were, too.” 

“We’re friends,” she drew out. “If you hate a guy, I hate a guy.” 

“I don’t hate him,” Betty explained and Toni narrowed her eyes. “I don’t. All I want is to talk to him, but at the same time, it’s kinda nice… pissing him off. But then again, it’s killing me because I told him something and I'm… not sure if he processed it yet. I didn’t even get to tell him I was divorced because he made me leave.” 

“Do you still like him?” she questioned and Betty shrugged. 

“I always will,” she murmured. “And I don’t like him, I love him. But I can’t really… just say I love you in the middle of the work day. Also don’t really know how he feels about me.” 

“I think it’s probably safe to assume he loves you too,” Toni whispered and Betty giggled, the two of them walking into the cafeteria. 

~

Betty chewed her thumbnail as she sat in the chair, looking from Christopher to his monitor. She was taking deep breaths, her leg bouncing. He had gotten out of surgery 4 hours earlier and still hadn’t woken up. He should have been up hours ago.

“You gotta get her water or something,” Jughead whispered to Toni who sighed. “She’s been sitting there… I can’t do it, she’s… you have to.” 

“Jug, I don’t think she wants water,” Toni muttered and he groaned. “His parents can’t be here, they sent them home because of visiting hours. She’s here for them. Let’s let her be here for him.” 

“Toni,” he started and she glanced up at him. “If regular visiting hours are over, that means she has to leave too. She’s not a night nurse, she’s worked a 12-hour-shift. She needs to go home.” 

“Okay. You went to college with her and then worked with her for however long you guys were in New York together. If _I_ know that she’s stubborn, you _definitely_ know that she’s stubborn. She’s not going anywhere,” she stated and he huffed. “We can stay with her, make sure she… doesn’t drive home completely delirious and then wrecks her car and then bam! she’s gone and you never get to tell her that you still love her.” 

“You are a sick person,” he whispered and she smiled. “Maybe we should wait, though. Just to… just to be sure she’s safe.” 

“Yeah,” Toni breathed, rubbing his arm. “I’ll go get coffee. It’ll take me 5 minutes.” 

He nodded and she walked away, adjusting her bag. 

Betty sat up straight when the monitor started beeping erratically, inhaling sharply. “No, no, no, no,” she muttered, standing quickly and adjusting her stethoscope in her ears. 

“Shit,” Jughead breathed, dropping his bag and jacket on the floor behind the desk. He hurried into the room, other nurses flooding inside. 

“Come on,” she whispered to herself, doing CPR. “Come on. You can’t do this!”

A nurse started bagging him and Jughead stepped out of the way of the defibulation cart another wheeled in. 

“Christopher, please,” she mumbled, stopping CPR for a second and watching the monitor as it let out a continuous beep. “Come on!” 

“Clear!” a nurse shouted and everyone removed their hands as he shocked him. “No change.” 

Betty continued CPR, her lip drawn tightly between her teeth. She stopped for a moment, sighing. 

The routine went on for long minutes. Betty yells no. Pumps his chest. Stops. Checks for a pulse. Continues. 

The other nurses run around the room, trying to grasp onto the situation. 

One nurse bags him in a continuous rhythm. 1, 1,000. 2, 1,000. 3, 1,000. And so on. 

Another pumps him with epi whenever Betty shouts the word. 

Another stands, paddles in hand, shouting clear when the times right. 

Others just watch. They watch as another kid withers away. Another kid they couldn’t help.

“Charge again. Clear!” the same nurse called and Betty stared at the machine as they shocked him. “No change. Still in asystole.” 

“No!” Betty cried, continuing to press on his chest. “Come on! Epi! Somebody push epi!” she shouted and nurses started to hurry around the room again. She paused compressions, feeling for a pulse and letting out a shaky breath. “God, come on!” 

“We should-”

“Go,” Jughead interrupted and the nurse looked over at him, shocked. “Go, I’ll deal with her. Just go deal with your other patients.” 

“She’s-”

“ _Go_ ,” he stated more firmly. They all hung around for a minute before they shuffled out of the room, taking the defibrillator cart with them. 

“Come on,” Betty whispered. “Please, come on! This can’t be it!”

Jughead checked his watch, breathing deeply. He had been in asystole for almost 17 minutes. He could let her continue, let her keep going, but it wouldn’t work. He was gone.

He let the two minutes pass before he stepped over to her, grabbing her arms gently. “Betty,” he whispered.

“No!” she cried, shrugging him off while continuing compressions. “No, I can save him!” 

“Betty,” he pressed, wrapping his arms around her chest. “He’s gone. Let him go.”

“No!” she yelled, kicking as he pulled her away from the bed. “No, let me go!” 

“Let him go! He’s gone, let him go!” he shouted back and she sobbed in his arms. “Let him go.” 

The monitor let out the continuous sound and she shoved him off of her. She left the room quickly and he sighed, looking at his watch again. 

“Time of death: 20:48.” He shut off the machine with a defeated sigh, clenching his jaw. “Can you handle this?” he asked the night nurse who nodded, picking up his iPad. 

Jughead sighed, tucking his hands in his pockets. He picked up his things and her own, looking over at Toni who was dumbfounded. “She went towards the elevators I think,” she muttered and he nodded, taking a cup of coffee from her hands. “He really died?” she asked after a beat. 

He turned to face her, swallowing thickly. “Yeah, he did,” he whispered and she sighed. “Um, his dad’s-”

“I’ll call them,” she promised and he nodded. “I’ll call them.” 

He sipped from his cup as he stepped into an open elevator, pressing 3. He stared for a minute before cursing, slipping out of the closing doors. He adjusted everything in his arms as he moved down the hall, quietly pushing the door of the stairwell open. 

He heard a sob come from a few floors up and sighed silently. He closed the door softly before walking up the steps. Betty cleared her throat and wiped her face, looking away from him. 

“You knew as soon as he went into asystole, there was no bringing him back,” he whispered and she whimpered, dropping her head into her hands. “Toni is calling his parents for you, you don’t have to worry about that, okay?” 

She sobbed, burying her face in her arms. 

He breathed deeply, sitting down next to her. He set his cup down beside himself before he set their things aside, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and pulled her into his side. 

She turned towards him, her face hidden in his neck as she continued to cry. 

“It’s okay,” he whispered, his cheek pressed to her head. “You’re okay.”

“He wasn’t supposed to die,” she cried, sniffling. “He got his gallbladder removed. That’s a routine surgery!” 

“Betts, it happens,” he whispered. 

“It shouldn’t! He was 6-years-old, he didn’t even have his front teeth yet!” she exclaimed, wiping her face. “It’s not fair.”

“Everyone knows it’s not fair,” he said softly and she let out a shaky breath. “That doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen. It’s going to happen again, and again, and again. It’s going to keep happening, and we’re gonna get upset, but you gotta move on ‘cause you have so many other patients who need your help.” 

“Archie and I… got divorced,” she whispered shakily, breathing deeply. “It got finalized today. Today… Today was supposed to be a good day,” she whispered, sniffling. “It was supposed to be a good day.”

“You got divorced?” he questioned and she sighed. “I-wh-”

“I want to go home,” she revealed, slipping from his hold. “Um, thanks for-for this but… I’m not… see, if I say what I want to say, I’ll have to avoid you for a while. So I’m just gonna go home before I embarrass myself.” 

He sighed and she sniffled, grabbing her things and leaving. 

~

Jughead threw the empty coffee cup in the trash as he walked past it, pulling his keys from his pocket as he approached his car. He slowed his gait when he saw Betty pacing beside it, furrowing his brows. 

“Betty?” he questioned and she turned. 

“Okay, um, I know I-I look insane,” she laughed and he raised a brow, unlocking his car. “Can-Can-Can I come over? If you have nothing going on,” she added quickly, holding her hands out in front of her. “Don’t cancel plans or dinner or girlfriend things if you have any for me. I’m-I’m-I’m…” She let out a breath, pinching the bridge of her nose. 

“You look like you’re going to shit yourself,” he commented, and she groaned. “Get in the car, I really don’t care. And I don’t have a girlfriend, I know you know that.” 

She sighed, walking around the car to the passenger side. She sat down, sighing as she pressed a hand to her stomach. “God, stop,” she groaned and he glanced at her. “Don’t give me that look.” 

“It’s my baby too, Betty,” he whispered and she let out a deep breath. “And, um, you should probably start telling people because-”

“I can’t hide it forever, I know,” she grumbled and he sighed. 

“I have an appointment next week,” she started after he began driving. He looked over at her at a stoplight. “If you want to come, you can. It’s not in the hospital, it’s at a clinic. I can send you the address,” she muttered, her voice breaking. “I’m scared, Jug,” she cried and he gave her a quick once-over. “What if something goes wrong? What if-What if something happens? What if somehow Archie can take the baby away from me? From you? I want your name on the birth certificate,” she added and his eyes were huge when he looked over at her. 

“Betty,” he mumbled and she sniffled. “We haven’t… you don’t even talk to me-” 

“I’m talking to you right now and I want your name on your kids birth certificate, is that wrong?” she asked and he breathed deeply. “You never gave me time to respond to what you told me,” she began.

He furrowed his brows as he parked in front of his building, turning to look at her. 

“I love you,” she whispered and he shook his head, exhaling. “I don’t know if you still love me, but I love you. And I… I’m sorry for just coming out here and spr-springing all of this on you, but I couldn’t live a lie in a marriage I didn’t want. I-I didn’t… we slept together and it, like, I don’t know. Made me realize that I never wanted Archie. I was scared of losing you and… and then I lost you, and I really, really need you.” 

He breathed deeply, blinking at his steering wheel. 

“ _This_ is what I meant that night!” she exclaimed, unbuckling. “I said it and now you don’t know what to say so you look at me like I’m stupid! And now I have to avoid you for weeks while your baby grows in my uterus!” 

He got out of the car and she exhaled, opening her door. She climbed out of the car and he cupped her cheeks, looking into her eyes. They were shimmering in the streetlights and his heart was racing, blood pounding in his ears. 

He let out a shaky breath, dropping his eyes to her lips. When his eyes met hers again, the world stopped for a second. For a second, it was him, her, and their baby. Their baby.

He rested his forehead on hers and she closed her eyes, reaching up and holding his wrists. “Jug,” she muttered, her voice breaking. 

He brushed his lips over hers. 

She pressed her lips into his. 

The kiss lasted a second, maybe one more. But it was enough to confirm whatever either of them felt. It was enough to make the stupid universe align. 

Betty sobbed when they pulled apart and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her to his chest. He breathed deeply, placing a kiss to the crown of her head. 

~

“Thank you,” Betty whispered and Jughead nodded, setting the plate of spaghetti in front of her. “You didn’t have to make me dinner, I could have… done something.” 

“Tell me about the baby… our baby,” he whispered as he sat down across from her. “I haven’t… you gotta be in your second trimester at least. I’ve… I didn’t… I want to know what’s going on, what’s happening. That’s-That’s my baby, I helped… I helped make that baby. Yeah, it… it wasn’t supposed to happen but we’re going to have a baby and we live in two different places and we have a lot to talk about. But we need to start with our baby.” 

She breathed deeply, setting her fork down and wiping her mouth with a napkin. “Um,” she started quietly, wringing her hands together. “Well, it’s healthy. I don’t know much, honestly. I try to keep the appointments short so I miss the least amount of work possible. Like I said, I don’t even know the sex. But I have a feeling it’s a boy. It’s heart rate is around 120, 125. That area. And I know it’s just a heart rate and we’re nurses so I should just find out. I really should just find out, shouldn’t I?”

“Knowing you,” he started and she bit her lip. “It’s not just the heart rate telling you it’s a boy.”

She sighed, her hand resting on her stomach. “I kinda think I’m carrying low,” she began and he nodded. “You see it too?” 

“You wear oversized scrubs all day, so I think my answer has to be no.” 

She huffed, standing and lifting her scrub top. “Low, right?” she asked and he gave her an iffy look. “I think it’s low. So it’s low. So it’s a boy. My boobs are huge, but the left one’s bigger. A boy.”

“You so googled these,” he muttered and she whimpered. “Keep talking though, it’s cute.” 

She sighed, ignoring her burning cheeks. “Chinese gender predictor says it’s a boy. It kicks me a thousand times an hour. An active baby equals a boy. I have never craved movie popcorn more. It’s salty and makes my lips chapped. Usually when you crave salty food, you’re having a boy. My stomach is super round which means a boy. My morning sickness really wasn't that bad either, and it was done as soon as my first trimester finished. And I just have a really strong feeling that it’s a boy. I just feel like… it’s a boy.” 

“Then why don’t you just ask?” he chuckled and she shrugged. 

“What if it’s wrong?” she asked. “What if they don’t know? That happens. I mean, not that any of my predictions mean I’m right, but I don’t know if I want them telling me.” 

He narrowed his eyes, twisting his lips in thought for a moment.

~

“Jughead, it is 10:30,” Betty huffed and he rolled his eyes, unlocking the door. “God, I told you I loved you two hours ago and you didn’t-” 

“I love you too, I thought the kiss told you that,” he whispered and she furrowed her brows. “I don’t know if you’re genuinely shocked, if it’s pregnancy brain, or you’re exhausted.” 

“All three?” she questioned and he chuckled, giving her back a slight push. “But why are we here? At the hospital? In an exam room?” 

“I’m a nurse, I’ve done ultrasounds before,” he started, slipping out of his jacket. “Take off your jacket, pull up your shirt.” 

“Jughead, I don’t need an ultrasound.” 

“Listen, you said you don’t want them telling you if you’re having a boy. So I’ll do it,” he said with a small smile and she let out a breath, running her eyes over his face. “Lay down.” 

He turned on the machine and she did as he said. She pulled up her shirt and pushed away the waistband of her pants slightly, raising a brow at him. He sighed, clearing his throat and grabbing the gel and shaking the bottle. 

“It’s going to be cold,” he muttered and she giggled. 

“You know, after saying those words and hearing them, they are such an understatement,” she responded and he laughed, squeezing some onto her stomach. 

“We’re saying boy?” he asked and she nodded. “Okay,” he breathed, picking up the doppler. He ran it over her stomach and she watched the screen of the machine closely. “Well, it’s head is in your ribs. Doesn’t that hurt?” 

“You wanna take it for a month?” she asked and he chuckled. “Tell me.”

“Okay,” he laughed, moving the doppler down. He squinted at the screen for a moment, nodding. He turned it towards her, pointing to a spot on the screen.

She grinned, her eyes shining when she glanced at him. “A boy,” she whispered and he nodded. “We’re having a boy.” He smiled and she bit her lip. “Jug, we have 17 weeks before I'm 40 weeks. So we could have less than that… I don’t want to make a newborn baby go back and forth-” 

“Move in with me,” he blurted and she furrowed her brows. “Not-Not right now. Not today, not tomorrow. But when we’re closer to having him, move in with me. Or I could move in with you. I… we shouldn’t toss him back and forth, you know? He’s-He’s too little and we have time before he comes. We can figure it out, try to… try to date?” 

She nodded, sitting up and taking the towel he handed her. “Okay,” she whispered, nodding. “It’s not a bad idea. And my apartment is… loud. So yours would be best.” 

“So we’re gonna live together… with a newborn baby… while trying to date?”

“Yep,” she muttered uneasily and they both laughed. 

~

“So you’re 30 weeks pregnant and moving in with Jughead?” Toni asked, brows furrowed.

“Surprise,” she whispered and Toni looked over at Jughead. “It’s his baby. It’s okay.” 

“You two hate each other,” she protested.

“We worked that out,” Jughead muttered and Betty nodded, shoving a fry into her mouth. “We’re dating now. No hate, just… ew, I’m turning into a dad.” 

He left the table and Betty laughed. “He’s getting all mushy and soft. Not an asshole anymore. He talks to my stomach. He talks to the baby. He’s literally a dad, it’s like a whole new Jughead.” 

“I thought you two hated each other,” she whispered in shock, and Betty shrugged. “So… do you love each other?” 

“Um…” she breathed, weighing the idea. “Yeah. Yeah, we might have said that.” 

“Really?” Toni asked with a grin and Betty flushed as she glanced away. “I knew it. There was total sexual tension. How do you guys have sex?” 

“Toni!” Betty exclaimed and Toni shrugged. “Ways. There are ways. And we’ve only been together almost two months. Do you really think we can handle having a baby?” 

“It’s going to be hard,” Toni muttered, sighing. “But you guys actually seem to, like, get along so…” She shrugged and Betty breathed deeply. “Boy or a girl?”

“Boy,” Betty whispered and Toni squealed. “You really think we’ll be good parents? We’re not too young?” 

“You’re both almost 25. You guys are going to be great parents,” she added and Betty bit her lip.

~

“I changed my mind,” Betty gritted out, squeezing Jughead’s hand. “I want drugs!” 

“It’s too late for that,” the doctor said, situating herself at the end of the bed. “It’s time to push.” 

Betty and Jughead exchanged a look of fear and excitement. It felt like she had just found out she was pregnant yesterday and now she’s giving birth. 

Time felt as if it were flying by and neither felt prepared. Betty was barely situated and comfortable in Jughead’s apartment. They had been moving in the last of her things when her water broke and they had to get to the hospital. Now she’s been stuck in an antagonizing 48 hour labor and wanted to turn back time so she never had the possibility of being a bad mom. 

“Jug, what if I can’t do this? What if we are way in over our heads?” she asked in a panic and he stroked her hair. 

“Betts, me and you are going to beat parentings ass,” he joked and she laughed, breathing through her contraction. “You went to 41 weeks. He’s going to be perfect and we’re going to get through this. He has two nurses—two pediatric nurses—as his parents. Betty, he could have not scored better parents than us.” 

“On three, I need you to push,” the doctor stated.

“We’re going to be amazing!” Jughead exclaimed just as the doctor shouted “3!” 

“You’re being too cocky!” Betty screamed, squeezing his hand as hard as she could as she pushed. 

“Okay, uh, I thought that’d make you feel better,” he whispered. 

“No,” she breathed, dropping her head back into the pillows. “No, it did not make me feel better. It made me feel like my boyfriend is headstrong.”

“But I kinda am-”

“I know!” she shouted, starting to push again. He sighed, kissing her temple. “Jug,” she whimpered, panting. 

“You got this, Betts,” he whispered, pushing the hair stuck to her forehead back. “We’ll be holding him soon and we’re going to take care of him the best we can. No one knows how good we’ll be or if he’s going to have a perfect life. But we know that we’ll try as hard as we can to give that to him.” 

She barely had time to give him a loving look before she was told to push again. 

“Tell me I’m almost done,” Betty panted, clutching to Jughead’s shirt. He leaned forward, giving her a sorry look as he shook his head. “We should have named him! He’s doing this because we didn’t—Jesus Christ!” she shouted as another contraction ripped through her, grunting. “Why didn’t we name him?” she asked in a breath. 

“We wanted to see him first,” Jughead answered and she sighed. “That was your big thing.” 

“Is he even _trying_ to come out?” she groaned, pushing again. 

“Keep going,” the doctor coaxed and Betty’s hand tightened on Jughead’s. He swallowed thickly, staggering his stance a little. “There’s his head.” 

Betty exhaled gratefully and Jughead kissed her cheek. She leaned against him, breathing deeply. “I want to name him Solar,” she whispered and he looked down at her with furrowed brows. “I know I wanted to see him, but I want to name him Solar. I’ve been sold on Solar for weeks and if he doesn’t look like a Solar, then we’ll name him something else. But I want to name him Solar, Jug.” 

“Then we’ll name him Solar,” he breathed and she sighed. He kissed her quickly, adjusting his hold on her hand. “You can do this.” 

~

Betty woke up to Solar fussing and squinted against the dark. She felt for Jughead, sitting up when he wasn’t there. She moved over on the bed and peered into Solar’s bassinet. 

“Come on, dude,” Jughead whispered and she furrowed her brows. She pushed herself off the bed and walked out of the room and into the hall. “My nipples are no use to you. But this bottle is… well, it’s close enough. Your mom’s asleep and I think we should let her stay asleep. She deserves it.” 

She leaned against the wall, a small smile on her face. 

“In a few hours, you can have her you-know-what’s back,” he muttered and she rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. “Come on.” 

Solar continued to fuss and Jughead continued to rub the bottle over his bottom lip as he rocked him. After a few more moments he took the bottle and Jughead chuckled breathily. 

“There you go,” he whispered, holding the bottle differently so he could fix Solar’s blanket. “See? A little different but the same stuff‘s coming out of it.” 

Betty bit her lip as she turned back towards their bedroom, the you-made-a-really-big-mistake feeling that had been cursing her simmering down. 

~

Solar’s cry woke Betty a few hours later and she sighed. Jughead was gone and his bassinet was empty. “God, Jug,” she whispered to herself, pushing the blankets off of her legs and getting out of bed. 

“You, like, just ate, are you really already hungry? I gotta go thaw it out or something. Or maybe that’s wrong…” he whispered, turning. “I just did this—oh, okay, I see how it is-”

“Jug,” Betty whispered and he turned around to face her. “Why is there water in the sink and why is he wet?” 

Jughead sighed and Solar continued to cry. She stepped over to them, taking Solar from his arms. 

“I didn’t want to wake you up,” he whispered and she shook her head, walking into the living room. “I’m-I’m-I’m sorry, Betts. I know I should have, but you’ve been in labor and everything and I’m sure you’re tired. You need your sleep-”

“And you do too,” she interrupted, fixing a onesie on Solar and smoothing his hair to one side with her hand. “We _both_ need sleep.” 

She unlatched one side of her bra, grabbing a blanket and draping it over her shoulder when he latched onto her breast. 

She moved back towards the bedroom and Jughead followed, turning lights off. She turned towards him in front of the bed, cupping his chin. “Change out of those clothes and then come to bed.” 

“I can take him-”

“Jug, please.” 

He sighed, walking over to their makeshift closet and changing while she got in bed. She adjusted Solar in her arms and fixed the blanket over her shoulder. Jughead walked around the bed in clean clothes, climbing in beside Betty. 

“I think he’s falling asleep,” she whispered and he glanced up at her. “It feels like he’s falling asleep.” 

Jughead sat up, pulling the blanket off of her shoulder. They smiled down at him and Betty breathed deeply. 

“I don’t think Archie wanted kids,” she breathed and Jughead furrowed his brows as he looked at her. “People are… they’re gonna think that you and I made a big mistake. But marrying Archie was the biggest mistake of my life. I wasted 4 years with him, and… I would have never gotten this.” 

“What are you saying?” he asked, tucking hair behind her ear. 

“I don’t-I don’t know,” she whispered, sighing. “But I’m happy. I’m tired and my boobs hurt and I’m a mess, but I’m happy. I don’t… I wasn’t happy with him. I never was.”

“And now you’re happy?” he asked and she bit her lip, nodding. “So you’re telling me that I helped make you happy?” 

“You make me happy,” she whispered, cupping his cheek. “Solar makes me happy. I love you. I love both of you.” 

He smiled tinily, cupping her chin and kissing her. “I love you two, too.” He kissed her again and she sighed, the two of them looking down at Solar. “Put him down,” he whispered, stroking her hair. “When he sleeps, we sleep.”

She breathed deeply as she set him in his bassinet, letting out a shaky breath. She adjusted his onesie and arms, grabbing Jughead’s hand when he squeezed her shoulder. 

“Lay down, love,” he coaxed and she moved back on the bed, covering his hand with her own when he pulled her back into him. Solar cooed and grunted in the bassinet and they both laughed, Jughead placing a kiss on her cheek. “We did that.”

She laughed, nodding. “We did that,” she repeated, grinning.

**Author's Note:**

> This was really long so if you finished, hi! I started this one and then dragged it on just so I could write Jughead with the baby (whoops!). I'm not really sure how I feel about this one, but I crammed it out in a few hours just because the idea was really sticking to me. It probably has to do with the fact that I’ve been re-watching _Grey’s Anatomy_ for the hundredth time. 
> 
> With that said, I hope you enjoyed! All of your comments and kudos are greatly appreciated! Have a great day/night/evening/etc.!
> 
> Tumblr: ultravioletviolet


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